Robot War: Project Darkstar

Madskillz · Post by **Madskillz** » Sat 31 Dec, 2005 4:46 am

The problem is I can test it on my calc only if there was enough free ram to be able to open the game. 25000+ is past the limits for PTI and my calc. 20000 sounds like a lot better number. Digi, that mini-pong game looks fun as hell. For missing if he is gonna port this I cant thank you enough!

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Tue 03 Jan, 2006 10:27 pm

I'll look into maybe compressing more of the graphics (maybe some of the z80 code as well, if possible). Exactly what is the limit for 83+?

katmaster · Post by **katmaster** » Wed 04 Jan, 2006 3:50 am

Well, I believe the ACTUAL limit is around 24000. However, It's probably better if you keep it down to 22000-23000.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Wed 04 Jan, 2006 3:55 am

katmaster wrote:Well, I believe the ACTUAL limit is around 24000. However, It's probably better if you keep it down to 22000-23000.

Or if you want to make a data program in the archive so you don't use all the ram

.

katmaster · Post by **katmaster** » Wed 04 Jan, 2006 3:59 am

Yeah, an app would work. You could make it 2 pages and allow for WAY more stuff.

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Wed 04 Jan, 2006 8:44 pm

Yeah, I think that was the consensus on UTI as well. That goes outside my area of expertise, so someone else is going to have to do an version or show me how to do that myself.

katmaster · Post by **katmaster** » Fri 06 Jan, 2006 5:14 am

Well either way, I CAN'T WAIT!!!! Self control, must use self control....

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Sun 05 Mar, 2006 12:48 am

Okay, for anyone in anticipation, the revision is still underway. There have been some mapping problems involving the new compression system, but it looks to be minor and of course did not affect the minigame casino in November's screenshot.

By popular demand, I'm keeping the RAM cost down by adding only the Pong minigame (now complete). Since I took wager mode out of 2-P battle last summer, the game takes its place as an extra source of gold for buying high-end items.

Also, since the battle engine already supports linking I haven't ruled out a 2-player pong option. Whether this is added or not depends on public opinion.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Sun 05 Mar, 2006 2:32 am

I think you can add them! Is this going to be the 83+ port? Please!

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Sun 05 Mar, 2006 3:15 am

I'm hoping for 83+ port support. So far the search continues and I don't have access anything other than 82 and 85. Still trying to anticipate if the code is small enough to fit in 83+ ram. So far it's on the border.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Sun 05 Mar, 2006 3:39 am

You could rely on the archive for data storage.

DigiTan · Post by **DigiTan** » Mon 06 Mar, 2006 11:52 pm

That's true. With flash savegame storage I would save close to 700 bytes. I guess we'll see.

katmaster · Post by **katmaster** » Tue 07 Mar, 2006 2:56 am

Or use an APP.... Anyways, great to see this is still being worked on!!! (please, I NEED an 83+ port....NEED!!!!

)

chickendude · Post by **chickendude** » Wed 03 Oct, 2012 4:41 pm

I know i'm like, six years too late, but i've wanted to play this game for... 6 years! I never actually got my 82 hooked up with games and now don't even have one to try it out. Digi, i know you were still around last year working on Robot War 2, though since UTI went under i don't know if you're still holding out. I just checked ticalc and saw that the source was included, so i'll look through it tomorrow and see what sort of monster lays ahead. This game and Robot War 2 have had me in awe for so long now, and i've still never played either!

chickendude · Post by **chickendude** » Mon 08 Oct, 2012 8:29 pm

Alright, so i'm crossposting from Omnimaga:
I've gotten a good amount worked out (or at least it seems that way to me!). There're still a lot of things i haven't tested, i dunno if anyone wants to go through the game and find things that are broken or not. The file is too large to fit into RAM, this file here, after saving, leaves you with around 80 bytes free (more if you delete L1-6). It contains 13 of the 21 maps, which should take you pretty far into the game, and anyway as i figure out how to implement everything (probably by converting it into an app) you'll be able to use your save file. However:

PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR REAL CALC (or at least don't get upset when it crashes

)!

It probably wouldn't fit anyway, unless you have no other programs. There are a lot of things i haven't tested yet and while the differences in the code between the 82 and 83+ aren't that great, it's often enough to reset your RAM. For example, the battle routine was stalling because my random number routine never returned a carry and it relied on a random "carry" being thrown for the enemy's AI. CrASH's random routine must've had an srl a/rra at the end, since it says it returns a random number between 0-127. Small things that cause big headaches!

Things i've tested so far:
1. basic tilemap engine
2. basic battle engine (normal attacks and using items)
3. saving/loading is now working, as well as quitting the game (before it gave an error after trying to start the game for a 2nd time)
4. basic events engine

There's probably a lot more that works since i've really had to make very few changes.

Things to do:
1. fix sprites that are messed up when you move.
2. weird sprites drawn on side of screen during battles.

Also please note, this is just the Standard Edition (no link-play...yet). Also, many thanks again to Hot_dog for Crabcake, without which life would've been so much more difficult! Oh, and worth noting just in case: i've been using zStart to run it, but in theory (whatever that means), it should also run under any ion-compatible shell.

Attached are the current source to the 83+ version (with readmes/extra documents provided with the original/the original .82P files) and a .8XP file to test using your favorite emulator

And a screenie

:

ROBOTWAR.8XP (we can't attach .8xp files)
Source

MaxCoderz

Robot War: Project Darkstar

Re: Robot War: Project Darkstar

Re: Robot War: Project Darkstar